Things To Keep In Mind For The New Year - 15 of 20

15. Establish a private life. 

Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. 

Scrub your computer of malware. 

Remember that email is skywriting. 

Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. 

Have personal exchanges in person. 

For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. 

Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. 

Try not to have too many hooks.




Yale historian and Holocaust expert Timothy Snyder wrote: "Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so." 
Snyder's a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (which includes former Secretaries of State), and consults on political situations around the globe. He says: 

Above, #15 of twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today.